


Home, a place where I can go.

by CoughinCoffee



Category: Safe - Fandom, SamxRafe, Uncharted4 - Fandom, uc4 - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Fluff, I WRITE SHORT-SHORTS, M/M, One Shot, Rafe Adler - Freeform, Samuel Drake - Freeform, SamxRafe - Freeform, Screenshots, Short, Short Story, Shorties, Shorts, Slice of Life, more to come - Freeform, non-linear, not neccessarily same au, safe, things and stuff, who writes short-shorts?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2019-07-17 20:50:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16103549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoughinCoffee/pseuds/CoughinCoffee
Summary: Just scenes that I need to get out of my head, there will be fluff, there will be angst, there will be sex and scenarios that I simply feel like sharing becuase I love these dudes with all my  fandom-soul and gamer-heart.Finished chapters might get a little edited from time to time! Probably just misspellings and such, tho!





	1. The smaller scar

"Is this an old scar?" the older man gently pecks a finger to the spot he reffered to.  
The two of them were lying down, face-to-face, fully clothed in the younger man's bed. None of them knew how long they'd been there, but it didn't matter.  
Rafe scratched his thumb to the faint mark at his right eyebrow and nods.  
"How'd you get that?" Sam's face held a curious expression, yet so calm, just the way he spoke. His eyes shifted upward to the scar in Rafe's hairline, probably self-noting that he only knew about that one, but hadn't asked about this one.  
Rafe could tell how much the other wanted to know, just like he always wanted to know every detail about him, but that he also wanted to respect his privacy in case it was a touchy subject.

He thought about it.

The subject was in fact a little touchy, but since he had no idéa what else to say, why shouldn't Sam get to know?  
"I'm not really sure if I do know how I got it.."  
Sam frowned, confused.  
"I've had it forever. I remember being very young, one day, after coming home from some get-together or whatever, some place where there were other kids-" Rafe gestured a little with his hand, waving off the unimportant details.  
"I remember standing in front of the mirror, and I noticed this mark. It was dark then, like, more red-ish, the way a new scar would look-" He saw Sam nod a little and he took a breath, clearing his throat.  
"So, I asked my parents why I had this red mark, and like.. when did I get it why I never saw other kids with marks.. I must've been, uh, maybe five or six years old."  
He shrugged in rememberance.  
Then he went quiet for a little bit, eyes lingering above and around Sam.

"And my mother told me I had fallen down the stairs, as a baby.." He frowned at the memory, eyes watching something far away.  
"But that doesn't make any sense, as I came to realize years later when I got new scars.."  
He chewed the inside of his cheek. His voice drifted off as he spoke.  
"..becuase it was way too new and I would've remembered falling.. and the cut is too clean, so.." He squinted at the discarded facts that he hadn't really thought about in years.

Sam directed the man to look at him, touching his jawline.  
"So.. they lied?" Sam sounded calm still, but every new bit of information he ever got from Rafe's parents made him boil harder on the inside.  
This information led him to believe that these people had actually hurt Rafe, and then lied about it becuase their son had conveniently forgotten about it.  
If he ever met those bastards...  
"Well yeah, they're assholes." Rafe shrugged. Nothing new.  
Sam frowned deep.  
"..fucking bastards.." he whispered.  
Rafe smiled sadly.  
"Look, I'm not actually sure they were the ones who did anything, I'm just saying the staircase-excuse was a lie for sure, and I have no idea why. But they're asshole either way, so.."  
Low grunts responded, maybe in agreement, maybe in bemusement.  
Rafe smiled and pet the side of Sam's troubled face.  
Sam already knew all too well the history behind Rafe's behaviour. His attachment-issues, his anger-issues, why he has so many defense-mechanisms.. it's all from the disfunction of people unfit to be parents. Rafe thought from time to time that, talking about his parents made Sam more upset than it made him.  
Just then, Sam shifted to kiss him. Quick but soft.  
Rafe smiled at the gesture. He wanted nothing more than to de-trouble Sam again. That look on his face felt wrong.. appriciated, becuase he cared so deeply for Rafe and he couldn't believe it, but still wrong. He shouldn't think so much about something from Rafe's past and let him look so haunted. Rafe had let go, kind of, so..  
His eyes shifted.  
"Didn't these hurt?" Rafe softly touched he inked birds on Sam's throat.  
"This one hurt a little bit-" He followed Rafe's fingers with his own, to lead him to the bird at the very back by the neck.  
"-the other three didn't hurt at all."  
A slight impressed face faded on and away from Rafe.  
"Hm."  
The face made Sam huff amused.  
"You ever thought about getting tattoos?"  
The younger man made a sound, lips pulling in a tight smile.  
"mmmmmmh-'m not sure.."  
Sam laughed at the expression.  
"You obviously don't have to!"  
"No, I know! It's not that, it's just, I have no idea what I would get."  
"Hm." He touched an indexfinger to Rafe's lips.  
"I always thought a compass would suit you."  
Rafe kissed the finger in an automatic response.  
"Compass? How come?"  
Sam simply looked at him for a second. Rafe raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Becuase nomatter how lost you seem, you always look for a way to find... something. Anything."

The words created a reaction in Rafe's chest. A halt and a skip. He felt those words hit very close to home.  
He swollowed. Then sighed.  
"Doesn't that mean I just hate being lost?"  
"Maybe. But it also means you never give up. Which is one of the main things that I love about you."  
And it was times like these that Rafe remembered why he let his gaurd down around Sam. His defenses weren't needed.  
"You know what I love about you?" His voice lowered, causing the other to do the same.  
"What's that?"  
"Your way with words.. you say so much with so few of them."  
"That's just becuase I know you so well."  
"Yeah..." Rafe searched the other's eyes. Smiling gently. "How did that happen?"  
Sam started closing in.  
"Oh you see, I am very.... very-"  
He stopped but half an inch from Rafe's face.  
"Very sneaky."  
The younger scrunched his face in a snicker.  
"Good thing you are."  
Sam grinned, closed the space between them with another few soft kisses.  
"Very good thing."


	2. Keep Warm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh, there is angst (anxiety attac) so beware of that- and uuh, some fluff, and I have no idea if I'm adding anything or if it's done ooooorrrr...

"You ok? You look cold."

Rafe snapped his head towards the voice at the sudden question.  
Sam watched him with curious eyes.  
A moment of silence and staring blankly at his boyfriend had him shaking his head.  
"No, not really, I'm.. pretty tired, I think." Rafe dabbed a palm at his own forehead as if to check for a fever.  
"Yeah?" Sam closed the last inch between them and replaced Rafe's palm with his own wrist.  
Deciding it felt fine, he shrugged.  
"Well, you're not hot." He lowered his hand. "Other than-" He gestured the hand all over Rafe's frame, which made said hot man chuckle.  
"Dork." The nickname fell easy and fondly out of Rafe's lips. The smile of Sam's lips widened as he leaned in to steal a kiss. A quick kiss turned into a second, lingering kiss.  
They stayed an inch apart then, watching each other's expressions.  
Eventually, Sam turned and sighed.  
"What time is it?" He answered his own question by looking at Rafe's phone.  
19.57  
He made an annoyed sound.

Dumbass time can't go slower when it should.

"I have to get going.." He announced regretfully and turned back to Rafe, who nodded twice while blinking slowly.  
"You think you'll come around tomorrow?"  
Sam kissed him again before replying.  
"Most likely. But if not, Thursday." He talked inbetween kisses.  
"Mmh." Rafe never did hide his dissapointment of Sam's departure very well.  
Even so, Sam har already stayed over for two days, but time never seemed to last long enough when Sam stayed over, nomatter how long he did stay.  
"Thursday is just two days." Sam smirked at Rafe's displeased grunts. He leaned in to lightly bump their noses, an attept to recieve a smile.  
"Mh." Was all he got, but Rafe's eyes were soft and sweet toward him. A moment later, Sam scooped up a hand in his own, and got up.  
"Come, kiss me bye." He pulled gently at Rafe who after a couple more grunts, eventually took the bait.

They shuffled along to the door, and Rafe all but threw himself around Sam's neck and initiated a deep kiss.  
For a litte while, only kissing-noises emanated from the quiet apartment .  
Rafe made sure to really taste Sam. Making mental notes of the flavors. He wanted to keep them for a while. Judging my Sam's happily cooperative tounge, he wanted the same.  
Breathing through their noses, the kisses became intense, until Sam had to push Rafe back a bit in order to calm down. Simply for the comfort of not sporting a full boner at the bike on the highway, during the ride home.

 

Rafe inhaled through his nose and spoke quietly.  
"I hate it when you leave." He let out a huff and a smile, despite the joining frown.  
Sam grinned.  
"But you love to watch me go?" He raised both eyebrows suggestively.  
Rafe shook his head and huffed again, amused.  
"I love it even more when you return." he had to stand on his tippy-toes to reach Sam's lips, when Sam wasn't leaning.  
The taller man bent at the knees to wrap his arms around the other's legs just under the buttcheeks, and lifted. A small sound, something like a gasp escaped Rafe with the action, though he recovered quickly to take the opportunity to keep kissing Sam. 

 

-

The road wasn't too busy, but Sam had prefered it to be emptier still. Letting the bike roar freely was the best way to ride.  
He stopped at a red light.  
He licked his lips. They tasted of Rafe.  
His Rafe.  
Rafe who was cocky and sweet. Confident and humble, goregeous, clever, honest-  
He shook his head when a horn blared behind him.  
Oh.  
Green light.

-

 

At home around 9pm, Sam had made it as far as taken a shower, switched into sweatpants and a pull-over hoodie, but then somehow ended up at the computure.  
He'd just given the time a quick consideration.  
23.45.  
Might be an idea to go to sleep soon.

 

Not five minutes later, his phone went off in soft signals. Barely checking the caller-ID before knowing it was Rafe, he picked up.  
"Hey baby, you can't sleep either?" he smiled.  
A few beats of silence replaced his smile with a slow frown. He checked the display quickly to see that the call was in fact active.  
He listened for another second.  
"Sweetie?" he tried again, worried.  
A sharp breath in the other end had Sam relieved, as much as it added to his worry.  
"Sam.." Rafe's voice shook.

Sam's heart sank.

"Rafe, are you alright?"  
Another shaky breath exhaled before words formed from the other man.  
"I... No, I-... " a sob and a hard swallow of saliva interupted.  
"Sam... I'm, I'm sorry but, could you come back here? Now?"  
Sam barely had to register what Rafe had said before he was on his feet to collect his keys, card and spun around for his phone until he realized he was using it.  
"I'll be there in an hour baby, just, sit tight, alright?"  
Rafe pushed out a quiet "Yeah-" along with something like a wince, a highpitched sound from a tight throat.

What happaned after that on the other line, Sam couldn't say exactly. He kept the phone to his ear while tearing on a jacket and locking the door after smashing it closed in a hurry. Rushing out to the bike, he decided the line must've went dead, or Rafe hung up at some point, becuase he wasn't talking or even breathing.

Before Sam pocketed the phone and put the helmet on, he threw a quick text off to the man he loved.  
-Keep warm baby, I'll be there soon.-  
Just something small to reassure Rafe, and to calm himself down for the ride over. 

 

-

 

Rafe had made Sam a copy of his key quite a while ago, when it became clear that Sam would make appearances in and out of the place at generally unpredictable times. More than once, Sam had ended up on Rafe's doorstep while Rafe hadn't been there, and it had resulted in panicked texts about having to pee or being "super-deadly-hungry".

At first, the suggestion of giving Sam a key to enter and leave as he pleased, had been mostly for fun, according to Rafe.  
'Maybe you can quit bothering me at work about toilets.' He had said with a smirk. Sam had answered with a chuckle and "I can't promise a key will remedy that." And somehow the joke had turned very quickly and very easily into reality. Just as if it had never been a joke at all.

Rafe Adler had never even thought as far as being able to give his key to another human being, but then, along came Samuel Drake.  
His Samuel.

Maybe it was the many, many months of dating that built trust. Maybe there was something in his eyes. Maybe in the touches. Maybe the way he held Rafe's hand in public, firm, but not too tight. Maybe it was the fact that Sam's hands were always warm, or that he always had a certain comforting smell, even when he smelled of ashes just after smoking.  
Whichever 'Why', Samuel being able to walk freely in and out of Rafe's home made sense. It was only logic.  
So when the door clicked open, keys ratteling and being re-locked from the inside, Rafe's heart and mind had the first positive reaction in four hours. 

-

 

The apartment was dark, almost pitch-black if not for the street-lamps outside.  
Sam slid the jacket and shoes off, before he shuffled quietly inside. It was so dark and quiet he felt like he should be sneaking.  
The whole place felt different than it did only five hours ago. Colder.  
At first, he couldn't hear or see anything.

"Rafe, baby?" he tried.  
A lightswitch clicked, and the source came from the kitchen. When Sam reached the doorframe he stopped, and simply let his eyes fall upon his boyfriend curled up on the floor, in the corner of the lower cupboards beneath the sink.  
He had reached for the lamp above the sink, as a way of communicating, which became obviously clear to Sam when he saw Rafe, why he'd rather flip a light instead of talking. He sunk slowly down on his knees, next to him. Even with face buried in his hands, covered in a huge hoodie and knees bent up, Sam could clearly hear the sobs. Hard, quick sobs that Rafe was trying to surpress, most likely from just having cried very hard just before Sam entered.

This was a full-blown panic-attack.

This wasn't the first time Sam had been with Rafe when it happaned, but it hadn't happened in a long time. Sam had to take a deep breath of his own, before he could focus. He wanted to be calm, steady- had to be calm and steady, for Rafe.

"Rafe..?" he whispered.

It was almost as if Rafe hadn't noticed him joining him on the floor, he jerked a little at the sound and revieled a flushed face, red and wet from crying along with swollen bloodshot eyes.  
Maybe it was Sam's utterly destroyed expression at the sight of Rafe in pain, maybe it was the relief that Sam was there at all, but Rafe couldn't hinder any of the new tears coming, after seeing him. The very same instance, he reached for him. He grabbed a hold of anywhere he could, to pull Sam closer until he could bury his face in Sam's neck instead.

Sam didn't hesitate to reach as far as he could around his boyfriend, shifting into a sitting-position where he could lean at the cupboard, and Rafe could sit comfortably between Sam's legs. Just then, Sam actually noticed how much Rafe was shaking. The little movements made Sam instinctively squeeze him tighter towards him. Soft fabrics pressed together as they sat on the floor, curled up like a blanket and pillow.

A couple of minutes passed with Rafe's voice misarebly failing to gain any control of itself. He cried out in between gasping for air. He shifted to drop his head lower, buried it in Sam's chest. His sobs echoed harder for a second and his hand clawed a little at Sam's shoulder.

Sam frowned hard. A pained, hurt expression.  
His heart felt like it was beating irregular, as if he was angry. For what wasn't the first time- he wished Panic was a person, so he could beat them up for Rafe.

One of his hands settled on top of the other's head, and stroked the soft hair gently. Barely a whisper, he said "Ssh, baby, it's alright. It's all good." Even if Rafe hadn't heard him, he knew he had to start try talking to help Rafe focus.  
He would hold Rafe for a whole damn week if he had to, but the thought of Rafe feeling like shit made Sam desperate to help him. Though Sam was a patient man, and he knew Rafe well.  
He knew that the man needed time. Nothing could be rushed for no good reason.

"I'm here, sweetie." his hand continued petting Rafe's hair.

Rafe chipped for air in quick breaths, trying hard so get atleast one long deep breath in there, but it was like the next breath always interrupted the first one.  
The tries for stedier air let Sam know that Rafe had heard him. If nothing else, felt him talk by his chest rumbling.  
Sam took a deep breath. Partly becuase he needed to, and partly becuase he wanted to remind Rafe how.

Suddenly, Rafe coughed.  
Another good sign. A sign of breaking the crying-pattern.  
The other hand that Sam held at Rafe's back, he started moving up and down, gingerly.

"There's nothing to fear, baby, you're alright." he reassured.  
A few minutes passed like that. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes. Sam whispered words in Rafe's ear that he knew he needed to hear. Rafe cried out a little in between gasping, but ultimately breathed easier with every minute.

From time-to-time, Sam would look up at the window. He could slightly make out a few stars in the sky. He made a mental note to mention them to Rafe later. They watched stars together pretty often.

Eventually, Sam noticed Rafe breathing through his nose.  
He closed his eyes and smiled.  
Rafe was breathing in the scent of Sam. Another good sign. He had gone from focusing on breathing, to touch, to hearing, to scent.  
He kissed the top of Rafe's head before placing his nose to it, sniffing his boyfriend in return.  
"You smell really good." he whispered.  
Something like a muffled, even amused 'hm' was the reply.  
Sam huffed happily, pleased to hear Rafe make a voluntary sound.

As carefully as he was able, Sam pushed at Rafe, encouraging him to free his own face. He placed his hands at the back of Rafe's head, as him helping him holding it steady. His thumbs stroking at the back of the ears.  
"Here, sweetie, look at me.." He asked, moreso than told.  
Once again those red, swollen eyes blinked at him. Sam couldn't help but to smile. He loved that face, nomatter the emotion it held.  
"Hey..." Sam breathed.  
A very light, croaked sound replied "Hi"  
Air still seemed a little difficult to get a hold of, and it got stuck in odd places of Rafe's chest and throat.  
Sam's hands traveled an inch to the front of Rafe's head to help wiping away a few sneaky tears.  
The warmest smile, the smile that had Rafe falling for Sam, that's the smile he wore when Rafe felt he had to try his best to speak again. Still chipping a little for air and with a torn voice, a very shaky "I love you.." made it out, barely audioble, but Sam knew.  
"I love you too." He said, voice warm and steady.  
Rafe shoved all his energy into the small smile he wore while looking at Sam. He swollowed hard, trying to keep time with the breathing he'd just re-learned.

Sam's eyes searched Rafe's face, then they shifted down a few inches. He automatically pulled at Rafe's hoodie- Sam's hoodie. He met Rafe's eyes and smiled, none of them said anything. Rafe loved that hoodie a lot. Partly becuase it smelled like Sam, partly becuase of the over-sized fit it had on him. Ofcourse, caused by Sam being that much broader than Rafe. He'd even ask Sam to wear it again, from time to time to keep the smell. He never actually gave it back to him, tho.  
Rafe rubbed at his eyelids with the bottom pads of his palms.  
He sniffed. Eyes still glossy, he looked up at Sam. "How shitty do I look?"  
Sam grinned from ear to ear at that, while rubbing a thumb at Rafe's temple. The width of his lips faded to a simple smile.  
"You're beautiful." Brown eyes shifted around, searching Rafe's face. "You're always beautiful."  
Rafe sniffed again, but with a growing smile this time.  
"So are you."  
As a response, Sam planted a small sweet kiss to Rafe's lips.

After just a few minutes of steady breathing and random comments just to talk, Rafe gripped around Sam's neck while the tall man scooped him up and carried him to the couch.  
He sat down, Rafe landing snuggly next to him with legs crossing Sam's own, and he grabbed a blanket from nearby to spread over them both.

Nothing interesting happaned on the television this time of night, but for some light, some background noise and something for Rafe to focus on, Sam flipped it on, zapping until he found something remotely fun.  
After another couple of minutes, Sam noticed Rafe was shaking.

"Are you cold, sweetie?" he asked hushed, to which Rafe only looked up at him, looking like he had just realized it himself, and nodded a little.

Sam swiftly grabbed another blanket nearby to spread mostly over Rafe. It earned him a thankful noise from the younger man.  
It wasn't long before Rafe stopped shaking and Sam heard light snoozes next to him.  
He watched Rafe for a second, smiled to himself and leaned back.  
He kept watching Rafe sleeping peacefully, and eventually sank down to lay next to him, and drifted off to sleep too.


	3. New Camera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Supershort fluffy I wrote a while back, inspired these screenshots I took! 
> 
> Rafe got a new camera during their vacation and Sam loves his artistic boyfriend.

“You done playing with that thing?” Sam asked tiredly, but with no harsh tone in his voice. He had been looking up to check the clouds and concluded that no rain should pour until nightfall, when Rafe had snapped a picture of him.

“I am not playing, Samuel. This is not a toy.” he mumbled somewhat convincing that he knew what he was doing while poking around at the settings of his new system camera.

He felt the taller man watch him concentrate, probably waiting for some more words.

“This is an instrument for art.” He finally mumbled on, failing to see the other man smile at him with that affection of someone who knew they’d found something precious.  
Something they never wanted to let go.

“Hm. A’right, Picasso.” He reached to push a strand of hair on Rafe’s head, placing in neatly back again. Said man watched the tiny screen with great focus and mumbled something else about the recent picture being too exposed.

Sam nearly missed the signal from his phone in the distraction of staring and being pretty damn tired after a long day in the heat. He checked the message and started writing back while talking.  
“Our ride is here in a minute, do you want to go back to the hotel or go to eat somewhere first?”  
Another snap of the camera was his only recieved reply.

Rafe immedietly checked the display and stilled. He clicked to view the recent photo again when he mouthed something like ‘oh wow’, and suddenly looked back up with adoring eyes.

“Black and white suits you, honey.”  
Sam chuckled a little and stepped closer, giving the shorter man a loving kiss.  
“That’s very sweet of you.”  
Rafe shrugged a shoulder, smiling cheekily.  
“It’s a fact. I am an artist, I should know.”  
Sam laughed at the fact that they had gone to purchase that camera during that very same day, and to his knowledge Rafe had not actually ever used a camera before, or done anything typically artistic. Then again, how do you even define an artist.

Sam’s phone pinged again with a new message, telling him their ride was running a little late. Not too upsetting, but in his hungry and tired state he sighed loudly at the device.  
He put it away, a bit frusturated, but another snap of the camera had him quickly feeling better again.

“Oh, come'on-you know what?!” His voice was lazy, but a hint of energy for teasing escaped. He swiftly pulled the camera out of Rafe’s hands and turned it on him.  
“Don’t delete it, It’s the best one so far! You look really hot!” Rafe chuckled with a slight genuine panic, that Sam was about to delete his hard-earned progress.  
Sam did not do that, but he backed up and shoved the camera in front of his own face and snapped one, grinning when he saw Rafe’s reaction through the camera.

“Oh come'on, Samuel. You have a million picures of me already.”  
Sam snickered, nodding in failure to argue.

He took a lot of photoes of Rafe on his phone.  
“Well, my phone don’t make'em like this, do they. Sweetie you need to smile, you look drunk.” Sam reffered to the first picture, suddenly talking with focus as if this was very important.  
It did make Rafe laugh, unfortunately he had time to turn away before Sam could catch him in the act.

“If anyone is drunk it’s you.” He gestured in Sam’s way.  
“Not yet baby, but we’re eatin’ somewhere where I can have a couple cold ones. Like, icey-almost-burning cold ones.” Sam made the decision on his earlier question, while checking the photo.

And he completely missed the smile Rafe gave him then. That affection of someone who knew they’d found something precious.

“Sounds great, honey.” His voice was soft. “Can I have my camera back now, please?!” He half-pleaded, half-demanded.  
“’ _Please_?!’ You tryin’a be cute?!” Sam quickly snapped away again before Rafe could step too close and grab for the object.

 

When he finally did, he popped it back in it’s little bag. Despite the heat, he immediately clamped himself at the other man, who pulled him close in return.

“It’s working, by the way.” Sam added. Looking at Rafe, who smiled back. "I know, I'm adoreble." He mumbled. Sam snorted. "Yeah." They kissed lazily.

After another minute of waiting for the ride, Rafe looked up at Sam and frowned.

“What.” Sam said simply, expecting something like 'I want sushi’.  
“I can’t believe you called me Picasso instead of just my full name.” Rafe smirked.  
Sam suddenly laughed out loud at the irony. He hadn’t even thought about that.  
“Oh, you know I save that for special occasions.”


	4. How convenient.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howdy!  
> This is a (maybe not 100%) canon-verse shorty that takes place sometime during the first year after Rafe busted Sam out of Panama!  
> It's just a quick drabble of a scene I got in my head!
> 
> Some of it just Headcanon!
> 
> Kinda mostly fluffy, a tad angsty maybe?
> 
> SamxRafe
> 
>  
> 
> \---

"You're researching the layout again?"

Sam threw a look over his shoulder, he was standing leaning over the layout-map at the table. He registered Rafe's presence and turned back to it.

"Yeah.. I figured why not. We're bound to find.. something at some point that we've missed, right?.." He mumbled low, but Rafe got it.  
"Yeah.. supposedly." Rafe replied, walking up to Sam, placing a kiss to his temple and letting one hand stay in his hair to pull the curls.  
Sam didn't react more than shifting his head slightly Rafe's way, and then back again, just to acknowledge him.

He would've rather removed the hand from his hair, at the moment, but he also didn't want to start an uneccessary argument, so he left it alone. Not like he actually disliked Rafe's hands, in any case.

He sensed Rafe's eyes, hoping he was looking at the map. Then Rafe kissed his face again, letting it linger longer this time.  
Sam blinked, an otherwise stoic face.  
He ignored him and kept talking instead.

"I was thinking we could take a walk today around most of this area-" He pointed in a circle to a part of the map. He felt Rafe shift.  
"I think we might've missed something along the way.." He mumbled again in thought.

"Well, there's an idea.. but then there's also this one-" Rafe spoke close to Sam's ear. His voice held no interests of walking anywhere anytime soon, then he pushed at Sam's chest, urging him to face him.  
Sam sighed, and stood up, refusing to lift his hands. "Mhm?"  
"-that you fuck me, right now, on this table." He muttered low, and reached up to kiss Sam's neck.

Sam swollowed hard, exhaling out of his nose in frusturation, looking away from Rafe, who halted and frowned at the odd reaction.  
"Okey, the wall, then? You know, whatever's fine with me.." He started caressing the older man's face, who was still not showing any signs of participating. He simply turned to give Rafe a look.

Rafe met the look, frowning as he finally sensed something off.  
".. Or is it just too cold today for you to get little Sammy hard?"  
"Oh, for chr- goddamnit, Rafe!" Sam pushed the shorter man, not harsh, but enough to move him.

He stomped just a few steps from a now wide-eyed Rafe. Instead of continuing and storming out, he turned around and practically yelled.  
"I was fine just working together before, but then you- I mean jesus christ, do you even like me at all, Adler, or is the sex just very convenient for you?!"  
Rafe blinked at him. Genuinely shocked.  
He stepped away from the table and looked at Sam. After a moment he clicked his tounge and started talking while walking up to him.

"While the sex is indeed convenient... for the both of us-" Rafe emphasized the last part to make a point and Sam rolled his eyes, about to turn and leave.

Rafe grabbed his arm gently.  
"-I do like you."  
Sam stilled.  
Rafe leaned to try to get a read of his face. "Sam, I've always liked you."  
That made Sam turn, wearing a small frown.  
Rafe met his eyes and hesitantly let go of his arm. He then flapped his own arms at his sides shortly. A kindof shrug.

"Since the first damn time we met, Drake." He echoed a bit of Sam's former attitude.  
Sam raised a brow at him.  
Rafe could tell he didn't believe him yet, so he might as well explain.

"Remember the first time we spoke? At that.. fancy-pants, whatever-charity-party you sneaked into to find me?"  
Sam looked away, automatically let a small smile free for just an instant at the memory. He nodded.  
Rafe smirked and continued.

"The reason I talked to you was becuase I immedietly liked you." Sam kept looking at him, showing interest but definitely still ticked off.  
Rafe sighed. Not entirely sure how to express it.

"You were different." He shook his head, in lack of another way to put it. To him, it was already so obvious.  
"Everyone there looked the same, sounded the same, talked of the same things.. They fucking smelled the same, for crying out loud.." His voice faltered at the end, barely believeing his own memory of those people.  
It made him wonder how he ever had the patience for all of that, so often, back then.

He watched Sam watching him, waiting for more.

Rafe's eyes then averted to Sam's neck, to look at the birds. He remembered how he had stared at Sam's neck at the time, when the inked birds weren't there yet.  
"...then you came along, from nowhere-you know, from the actual shadows- and started chatting me up about a damn 300-year-old pirate boat, I mean?"  
He scoffed, meeting Sam's eyes again.  
"Who does that?" Rafe asked.  
Sam let out a small snort, understanding what Rafe was getting at.

Rafe looked at Sam aimlessly, up and down, for a moment.  
"Having real freedom to be different didn't exist in my world before you. I listened to you. You taught me freedom becuase I liked your voice."

Sam's mouth fell open slightly. He didn't have a respond to that. He didn't often hear Rafe say.. deep things. However when he did, they were freakishly heartfelt.  
Rafe sensed Sam felt a little taken aback and took his hand, squeezing it.

"I.. somehow thought you knew." His voice held sincerity and an apologetic tone.  
Sam looked at their clapsed hands, squeezing back, he shook his head to affirm the opposite.

"I didn't.. but, uh"  
He finally turned fully and properly toward the shorter man.  
"I liked you pretty damn quickly, too.." he said seriously, meeting his eyes.  
Rafe's expression melted into relieved, eyes soft. "Yeah?" A smile played on his lips.  
Sam huffed, amused with Rafe's sudden giddyness.  
"Yeah." 

Rafe closed the space between them, putting his hands on Sam's ribs, causing Sam to grab at Rafe's hips in return.  
"How quickly?" He looked up at Sam, as if challenging him to a dare.

Sam's chest puffed up with a deep breath and exhaled, raising his brows in thought.  
"Well.. I remember you asking me- 'You lost, handsome?'. So, around that time." He met Rafe's eyes again.

Rafe's eyes narrowed suspiciously, a smile still playing.  
"That's the first thing I ever said to you.." 

Sam's smile grew big now, too.  
"Yup."


End file.
